The Second Studio (formerly The Midnight Charette) is an explicit podcast about design, architecture, and the everyday. Hosted by Architects David Lee and Marina Bourderonnet, it features different creative professionals in unscripted conversations that allow for thoughtful takes and personal discussions.
A variety of subjects are covered with honesty and humor: some episodes are interviews, while others are tips for fellow designers, reviews of buildings and other projects, or casual explorations of everyday life and design. The Second Studio is also available on iTunes, Spotify, and YouTube.
This week David and Marina answer a hotline text asking for advice regarding attending architecture school during COVID. The two cover choosing to defer and taking a year off from school, aspects of education missing from remote learning, the differences between physical and virtual learning, how to overcome remote learning challenges, and more. Enjoy! Text or call our hotline: 213-222-6950 for any questions.
Highlights & Timestamps
The benefits and downsides to deferring for a year or taking a year off from school during the pandemic and why gap years can be productive. (00:00)
Why online courses and online schools are not the same things as the remote learning done by most schools during the pandemic. (09:42)
Being aware of the faculty at the school and willing they are to make your education the best as possible during the pandemic. (13:00)
Concerns over social integration after the pandemic ends and in-person classes resume. Why the first year of architecture school is very different than other years and how it’s uniqueness relates to remote learning. (15:55)
Overcoming challenges with remote learning and the aspects of education missing from remote learning. (26:55)
Using informal forms of communication to your advantage as a student during the pandemic, being vocal with what you want from your education, reaching out to older students, and attending other reviews. (26:55)
Because everyone is working remotely, in a way teachers are more accessible than ever before. If you’re a student don’t think that you have to be limited to the official hours to see the teacher make up for the fact that you’re not meeting in person, if I were a student, I would be contacted my teacher way more often: “Hey, do you have ten minutes? Can we chat real quick?” (28:25)
Finding an upperclassman mentor. (33:10)
Different forms of communication and leveraging the right ones during the pandemic. Keeping lines of communication open while you’re working alone. (36:05)
Why desk critiques (even with Concept Board) are much more likely to be less successful during the pandemic and the challenges of understanding how students are doing. (40:52)
When you’re in-person, a student can be shy and quiet but there’s a lot of information that’s being tacitly exchanged between people (the teacher and student), body language is a big part of it. But now because things are being filtered through crappy 480p zoom quality, that as a student, you have to be much more proactive in asking questions and saying how you feel. (44:00)
Overcoming engagement issues while communicating virtually: Having the right-sized group for meetings and meeting just between students after desk reviews. (48:30)
Learning how self-structure your life. (55:55)
We have to be very aware of the fact that when you meet as a class with all 16 students in-person, you’re not actually meeting as 16 people. Yes, there are times when you coalesce as a group of that size, but even when you’re all in the same room, it’s still groups of 3 or 4 basically. Everyone’s in groups of 3-4, even if it’s a meeting of 50 people. So when you throw everyone into a Zoom meeting, you’re not allowing that in-between-ness of groups of 3 to 4. […] That fluidity is not there. Everyone has to be onstage or offstage. You’re either in the back of the room […] and on the second page of Zoom grid or you’re on stage. (58:25)
Visiting buildings safely and absorbing architecture in other ways. (01:03:10)
You can still outside of buildings and see them. […] you can still sketch buildings. Make it a challenge; every week go and look at a building and understand it. See what makes it what it is, what’s around it. Even if it’s not an assignment a teacher is giving you, just for yourself to get some fresh air. Look at things, try to understand them. (01:03:10)
Why the first year is a challenge even when school is in-person. (01:05:00)
We invite you to check out ArchDaily's coverage related to Coronavirus, read our tips and articles on Productivity When Working from Home and learn about technical recommendations for Healthy Design in your future projects. Also, remember to review the latest advice and information on COVID-19 from the World Health Organization (WHO) website.
